Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, March 4, 2017

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Mountain View News Saturday, March 4, 2017 

SIERRA MADRE PLANNING COMMISSION HAS 
HEFTY AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis


The next Planning Commission meeting is 
scheduled for Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 7:00 
pm. That will be 3 days after the retirement of 
current city manager Elaine Aguilar and 3 days 
into the tenure of the incoming city manager, 
Gabe Engeland. Nevertheless, the commission 
will not have time to notice as they are faced 
with making important decisions on projects 
that could change the character of the village of 
Sierra Madre forever.

In one of Aguilar's final City Manager reports 
she lists some of the critical items on the 
commissions next agenda:

126 East Mira Monte Avenue

The Planning Commission is scheduled to 
review Discretionary Demolition Permit 16-01 
for 126 East Mira Monte Avenue. This property, 
formerly known as the Henry Darling House is 
at the heart of a controversy regarding historical 
preservation and individual homeowners rights.

General Plan Amendment and Zone Change

The Planning Commission will conduct a public 
hearing to consider the following: 1) a General 
Plan Amendment (GPA) to change the land use 
designation of Assessor’s Parcel Number 5762-
010-014 from H (Hillside) to NOS (Natural 
Open Space) and a zone change to change 
the zoning designation from HMZ (Hillside 
Management Zone) to OS (Open Space); 2) a 
General Plan Amendment (GPA) to change 
the land use designation of Assessor’s Parcel 
Number 5762-011-903 from H (Hillside ) to 
NOS (Natural Open Space) and a zone change 
to change the zoning designation from R-1(One 
Family Residential) to OS (Open Space), and 3) 
a General Plan Amendment (GPA) to change 
the land use designation of Assessor’s Parcel 
Number 5763-001-003 from NOS (Natural 
Open Space) to H (Hillside).

 The purpose of the General Plan amendments 
is to correct the land use designation of the 
abovementioned parcels in the 2015 General 
Plan Land Use Map to match the existing use 
or existing development limitations on these 
parcels, and the corresponding zone change is 
to make their zoning designation consistent 
with the General Plan land use designation, as 
required by law.

 

City Solar Project Initial Study and Mitigated 
Negative Declaration

The Commission will also consider a City 
of Sierra Madre Solar Project consisting of 
constructing approximately 11 photovoltaic 
(PV) arrays at 611 East Sierra Madre Boulevard 
(aquatics center and spreading basins), and one 
PV array at 232 West Sierra Madre Boulevard 
(City Hall parking lot). The PV system would 
be installed on elevated structures in a shed 
configuration measuring 8-12 feet in height. 
The combined total footprint of the PV system 
would be approximately 50,300 square feet and 
is broken down by each site as follows:

 City Hall: One array covering 
approximately 5,400 square feet.

 

 Aquatics Center: Three arrays covering 
approximately 6,600 square feet.

 

 Spreading Basins: Eight arrays covering 
approximately 38,300 square feet.

An initial Environmental Study and Mitigated 
Negative Declaration were prepared for the 
project and a 30-day public comment period was 
published beginning February 1, 2017 through 
March 2, 2017. The Planning Commission will 
continue to take public testimony at the March 
16, 2017 public hearing. 

Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and 
the installation of the photovoltaic arrays at the 
referenced sites. The City Council is tentatively 
scheduled to review the Project at the March 28, 
2017 City Council meeting.

STONEGATE

The Planning and Community Preservation 
Department is continuing to review the 
resubmitted applications for Hillside 
Development Permits and Conditional Use 
Permits for properties within the Stonegate 
development. The Department received 
resubmittals the week of May 9, 2016 consisting 
of Lots 7, 21, and 22, resubmittals the week of 
June 6, 2016 for Lots 1 and 2, and resubmittals 
the week of August 1, 2016 for lots 16, 17, 19, 25, 
and 26. A submittal for Lot 23 was received on 
September 15, 2016. The plans are in various 
stages of review by staff to determine if the 
applications are complete and to confirm if 
staff comments were addressed since the last 
submittal prior to being scheduled before the 
Planning Commission at a noticed public 
hearing.

CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY

The Code Enforcement Division has 32 ongoing 
cases at various stages of enforcement regarding 
various public nuisances or other violations 
of the Municipal Code. Staff opened 16 new 
cases in the month of February and closed 
13 cases during the same reporting period, 
receiving compliance from property owners and 
contractors conducting work without permits 
and without a business license.

In her report, Aguilar also gives a detailed 
breakdown of the Planning and Community 
Preservation Department "which is currently 
processing 42 development applications.

You can learn more about these projects by going 
to the city's website at: http://cityofsierramadre.
com.

“Spring is Nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!” – Robin 
Williams

“It is easy to understand why the most beautiful poems 
about England in the Spring were written by poets living 
in Italy at the time.” Philip Dunne

I know it’s just the first few days of March, but Spring 
is definitely in the air. Everywhere we look as we walk 
Sierra Madre we see green! Green! Green! No longer are 
we saying “brown is the new green,” we are surrounded by 
green lawns, green trees, flowers galore. The ornamental 
cherries and plums are sporting a few pink blossoms and 
more are on the way. The camellia in our front yard has 
outdone itself with hundreds of flowers when we were 
pretty sure it was on its way to that big green bin in the 
hereafter. The daffodils, however, have not bloomed yet. 
Lots of green spears, but no hint of flowers after the 
initial three several weeks ago. Possibly they need a little 
sunlight after all this fantastic rain we’ve had. Speaking 
of rain, you need to take a look at the stream up in the 
Canyon where water from the dam runs our. There is a 
LOT of water in there, rushing down, and the sound it 
makes is so sweet to hear. Yes, water can sound exquisite 
when you haven’t heard it in a while. 

 The pumpkins from last Halloween are starting to 
deteriorate at the Parker house, which means that they 
will be planting the seeds for those giants they cultivate 
fairly soon. They’re the folks who create the incredible 
pumpkin kingdom on their front lawn with the giant 
spider, Cinderella’s coach and so forth. 

 Had an interesting experience last Sunday. Had dined 
out after church with son-in-law, Dave, and grandsons, 
Luke and Blake, hugged and kissed everybody goodbye, 
waved them out of the parking lot, turned on our faithful 
Honda and heard: click. Tried again: click. Battery had 
died a tragic death. However, could have been worse...
the sun was out, it wasn’t raining, called Auto Club and 
they were there within ten minutes. Not only were they 
there with the speed of light, but their truck was an 
absolute playground of batteries. They had the one we 
needed, installed it, took the deceased battery away and 
we were on our way home in twenty minutes. Now I ask 
you, is that fantastic or what!

 Speaking of car people, you know who is really nice, 
and will help you whenever you pull into his driveway? 
Chris Hovland at Sierra Madre Independent Honda, at 
Baldwin and Montecito, kind of right across the street 
from Beantown. He never says he’s too busy and will help 
you with things like resetting the codes for your radio 
when the battery dies, and other stuff like that. He never 
even looks impatient. We really appreciate that. 

 Having mentioned making Lemon Marmalade last 
week, I was asked how one goes about making that. If 
you have a lemon tree, this is really great as us lemon tree 
growers always have more lemons than we can use. I like 
to can stuff. I don’t do anything that is terribly difficult or 
that might give anybody botulism, but with jams, jellies 
and pickles, you’re pretty safe. Even if you’ve never done 
this before, you can astonish your friends when you give 
them a beautiful jar of jam or jelly that you’ve canned 
with your own tiny hands. 

 Buy a box of half pint canning jars. They have them 
at Target, OSH, Smart & Final and some grocery stores. 
Take 5 or 6 jars, rinse them in hot water, then refill with 
really hot water and let them sit till you’ve got your 
marmalade made. Then dump out the water and up-end 
the jars on a clean towel so they’re not totally wet when 
you’re ready to put your marmalade in them. Put the lids 
to the jars in a bowl and cover them with hot water till 
you’re ready to seal them.

 Now, let’s make Lemon Marmalade… You’ll end up 
with 4 or 5 beautiful half pints.

 2-1/2 - 3 cups thinly sliced lemons (remove all seeds, 
of course), add the juice from another two or three 
lemons... hey, it’s your tree and you can use all you want!

6 cups water

4-1/2 cups sugar

. Combine lemon slices and water in large pot. Cook 
rapidly till tender, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
. Drain lemons out and measure liquid; add water to 
make 6 cups. Add lemons back in, with sugar, mixing 
well.
. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly, about 23-26 minutes. 
Should be very thick.
. Pour into hot canning jars; seal.
. Turn jars upside down after they are sealed and allow 
them to stand on their heads for an hour or so. Then turn 
them right-side-up. This will make sure all your lemon 
peel is distributed through the jar, rather than crouching 
up near the top like it’s trying to escape.


 These jars of marmalade are beautiful, clear and make 
a lovely gift. It’s easy! Just be patient and plan to read 
the newspaper while you stir. (Adapted from “Freezing 
& Canning Cookbook” Edited by Nell B. Nichols, 
Field Food Editor, Farm Journal – 1963Doubleday & 
Company, Inc. Garden City, New York)

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” is 
now available at 

Sunrise Books + Coffee at Pasadena First Church of the 
Nazarene – 

just down the road on Sierra Madre Blvd.

Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of: 

The Crown – An Easter Story It’s on Amazon.com on my 
book page!

 Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd

SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

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During this time, the Sierra Madre Police 
Department responded to approximately 231 day 
and night calls for service. 

February 21, 2017 

 A vandalism occurred at a residence sometime 
between 2/19/2017 at 8:00 a.m. and 2/20/2017 at 
6:00 p.m. in the 600 block of Fairview Ave. An 
unknown subject graffittied a wall at the location 
and fled in an unknown direction. No witnesses 
have been located at this time. 

February 24, 2017 

 A Grand Theft was reported at a residence 
in the 600 block of W Alegria Ave. that took 
place sometime between 2/23/2017 at 11:45 
p.m. and 2/24/2017 at 5:00 a.m. An unknown 
subject entered a vehicle that was parked in the 
driveway of the residence and stole approximately 
$2,200.00 worth of property. It was unknown 
how the subject gained entry into the vehicle. The 
subject fled in an unknown direction. 

 A resident in the 400 block of N Canon Ave. 
found mail belonging to other residents in her 
mailbox. Some of the mail was opened and/or 
tampered with. The mail was returned to the 
owners. No witnesses have been located at this 
time.

 
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